


origami cats

by darwinsdonut



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Fluff, Hints of Past Mainewash, Iris-Era, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 07:51:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16888554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darwinsdonut/pseuds/darwinsdonut
Summary: in which washington is washington and caboose is caboose and that means only good things.~~a gift for bleepbloop-caboose~~





	origami cats

"Do you like to play catch?" 

Agent Washington paused at front-leaning-rest and glanced up at Caboose, coated in sweat. "Why do you ask?" 

Washington resumed his push-ups as Caboose answered, "Because I like to play catch. And we are all kind of sad here. And I think it would be a nice distraction. And if you keep doing so many push-ups I think that will be not good for your muscles." 

"I've only done..." Washington grunted through another one. "Seventy-two." 

"That's not _too_ many, but this is not the first time you've done push-ups today. Or this afternoon. We should play catch." 

"What are we going to play catch with?" 

"Tucker found a ball!" 

"Tucker found a ball." 

"Yes! Look!" 

Washington looked up to see Caboose holding a sphere of some kind of weird plant matter. A potentially dangerous needle-like red frond poked out of one end, not an inch from Caboose's nostril. 

"Caboose!" 

Washington jumped to a stand and took the plant-ball from him. "There you go!" Caboose said happily. "Though I am supposed to throw the ball before you take it." 

Washington sighed. "Okay, okay, we'll play catch. Give me... One minute. I'll meet you outside." 

"Okay!" 

Washington sighed and shook his head, setting down the plant-ball as Caboose left the room. Iris had some weird plants. Washington put on his gloves and carefully removed the frond from the ball, throwing it out, and then toweled the sweat off himself. He paused for a moment, catching his breath, his muscles aching. Elsewhere in the base, he could hear Carolina singing in the shower and Tucker arguing with... Simmons? No telling. As Washington slipped into his running shoes, he heard Grif, too, and figured Tucker could handle whatever negotiations were being demanded. That was the weirdest part of Iris- Tucker didn't need Washington anymore. That first while on Chorus, Washington had made himself responsible for all negotiations. Now, Washington was just... A friend. 

Washington headed outside the base to find Caboose ready and waiting. Washington tossed the ball to him and moved to stand a distance away. Caboose chucked it back with force enough that Washington caught it against his stomach and grunted. Right, this was Caboose. Five more steps back. 

"Thank you for coming to play catch with me!" Caboose called to Washington. Washington threw the ball to him. 

"Yeah, no problem. I haven't got much better to do." 

"I know!" Another chuck that Washington caught hard against his chest. "You are always in your room. I know we are all sad that Church is not here. But it is okay! We can still have fun." 

Washington felt a pang in his chest, not actually from the plant-ball. "I guess so, yeah." 

"Would you feel better if we got a cat?" 

Washington laughed. "Where would we get a cat from, Caboose?" 

"We could make one! Donut knows origami!" 

"Right." Washington caught the ball, threw it back. "An origami cat is just what we need." 

"I think so, too! And he could teach us how to make them, and then we could make origami cats and have them everywhere, and then we will all be happy!" 

Washington wanted to laugh, but Caboose was nothing if not always genuine. And none of the other guys seemed on board with getting a cat for the base- Washington had brought it up before. Caboose was the only one who seemed to even remember it. 

"You'd really do that, wouldn't you? Make a bunch of origami cats just to cheer someone up?" 

Caboose smiled, as always. "Of course I would!" 

Washington smiled back, surprising himself. He didn't know how Caboose knew he'd been more depressed than usual today- but Caboose just knew things, didn't he? Things no one else picked up on. And maybe playing catch with a dangerous plant-ball that was making Washington itch was just what he needed to get out of his head and feel the sun shine on Iris. And maybe it was possible that the sunshine he needed most was just ahead of him in a pair of genuine brown eyes that just wanted to see Blue Team happy, Washington included. 

* * *

It was hardest at night. 

Sleep wasn't something that came easy for Washington even when he was young and free of intense trauma. The nightmares didn't help, and his brain, associating fear and sleep, didn't like to make melatonin anymore. Or something like that. Washington didn't have an official diagnosis, and wasn't over-eager when Dr. Gray had offered one- so he just never slept. 

Sometimes the light of morning made it easier to fall asleep. Sometimes he went days with no sleep. He worked out so much to make it easier, but then sometimes he was just exhausted and still awake. 

A week after the game of catch with Caboose, enough time for the rash to spread over his whole body and then clear up, Washington was kept awake by a very particular thought: Maine. 

Maine, too, had an uncanny knack for getting Washington out of his own head. Maine was the chance Washington never took, and always kind of wished he had. Washington couldn't count how many nights he'd lain awake like this on the MOI and thought that going to lay down with Maine, with the big strong arms and huge warm chest, would've put him right to sleep. 

Something clicked. 

Washington turned over in bed, thoughts moving dizzyingly fast as he considered. Only a moment's debate crossed before Washington left his bed and his room and knocked on the door across the hall. 

"Wha-...? Come in!" 

The voice was sleepy, and Washington turned the knob and walked in. "Sorry to wake you." 

"Hello Agent Washington!" Instantly awake, the bright eyes gleamed in the hallway light. "How can I help you?" 

Washington closed the door behind him. "Do you- wanna have a sleepover?" 

"Of course! I have a really big bed because I am really big. You can come lay down!" 

Washington hesitated only another moment, and then went to lay down. The bed was warm and inviting, and the blue blankets were soft, and Caboose was close and it calmed Washington an unexpected amount. 

"Agent Washington?" 

"Caboose, you can just call me Wash. Everyone else does." 

"Wash?" 

"Yes?" 

Whispers in the dark, and the aura of calm happiness Caboose always wore made none of it awkward or uncomfortable. 

"Would you like to snuggle? I know you have bad dreams. I do, too. Having somebody close to you helps sometimes." 

Washington considered, but this was exactly what he'd been thinking about when he'd decided to come in here. Caboose- who knew things too well, without anyone ever telling him. 

"Eh. Sure, why not?" 

Big arms wrapped around him in the dark and pulled him close. Something tense in Washington relaxed. Caboose, warm and close, ran his thumb over Washington's shoulder and breathed evenly. Within a minute, Caboose was asleep. Washington lay awake in the dark, at peace, finally, and slipped away into a pleasant sleep. 

He woke in the morning to a steaming mug of coffee on the end table next to an origami cat.


End file.
